Top of page

Surveying: The Art of Measuring Land, Part One

Share this post:

This is the first of two posts outlining traditional 18th and 19th surveying methods.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, surveying is the art and science of measuring land. More precisely, it is “a means of making relatively large-scale, accurate measurements of the Earth’s surface.”  The authoritative 18th century treatise on surveying, entitled “The Compleat Surveyor or the Whole Art of Surveying Land,” was published in several editions by William Leybourn from 1679 through 1722. (A digitized copy of the 1722 edition from the collections of the University of Michigan may be found here.) This volume was so popular that George Washington (1732-1799) borrowed a copy from a neighbor, Colonel William Fairfax of Belvoir (1691-1757), and never returned it! It was not until 2018 that the volume was actually returned to Mount Vernon.

So, what are the elements and steps in an 18th century land survey? For the purposes of this blog we will use surveys and maps drawn by George Washington housed in the collections of the Library’s Geography and Map Division. The two maps below are excellent examples of young George Washington’s cartographic skills.

At the age of 16, George Washington accompanied the official survey party that demarcated the area to become Alexandria, Virginia and prepared this map. Washington, George. <em>Plat of the land where on stands the town of Alexandria</em>. [N.P, 1748] Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, G3884 .A3 1748 .W3 Vault
At the age of 16, George Washington accompanied the official survey party that demarcated the area to become Alexandria, Virginia and prepared this map. Washington, George. Plat of the land where on stands the town of Alexandria. [N.P, 1748] Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, G3884 .A3 1748 .W3 Vault
Drawn by the young George Washington at the age of 17, the map above shows the city street grid and lot ownership based on the July 1749 sale of lots, including the lot sale price as expressed in Spanish pistoles rather than Virginia or British currency. Washington, George. A plan of Alexandria, now Belhaven. [1749] Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division . Washington, George. A plan of Alexandria, now Belhaven. [1749] Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, G3883 .A3G46 1749 .W3 Vault
Drawn by the young George Washington at the age of 17, the map above shows the city street grid and lot ownership based on the July 1749 sale of lots, including the lot sale price as expressed in Spanish pistoles rather than Virginia or British currency. Washington, George. A plan of Alexandria, now Belhaven. [1749] Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, G3883 .A3G46 1749 .W3 Vault
In July 1749 George Washington was commissioned as the official  surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia. Between 1749 and 1752 Washington performed 199 professional land surveys, the vast majority of which were actually not in Culpeper County. Rather, Washington’s surveys were largely in the northern portions of the Shenandoah Valley which was land also owned by the Fairfax family. In 1747, John Warner published a map (see image below) entitled “A Survey of the Northern Neck of Virginia” which demarcated more than five million acres of land given to the Fairfax family and others by King Charles II of England. Eventually, through marriage and inheritance, the land came into the  possession of Thomas Lord Fairfax (1693-17891). The large land grant, as shown on the heavily annotated  map, encompassed all of the land between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Unfortunately, we do not know exactly who annotated the map but many of the annotations appear to relate directly to the Fairfax family.

King Charles II land grant to the Fairfax family comprised more than five million acres lying between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Warner, John. A survey of the Northern Neck of Virginia. [N.P. 1747], Manusctript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, G3880 1747 .W33 Vault
King Charles II land grant to the Fairfax family comprised more than five million acres lying between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Warner, John. A survey of the Northern Neck of Virginia. [N.P. 1747], Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, G3880 1747 .W33 Vault
Shortly after the map was published, Lord Fairfax began selling tracts of land to potential settlers. A prospective landowner would obtain a survey warrant from Lord Fairfax at the Northern Neck Land Office located at  Greenway Court (the location of which is also annotated on the map) for a set amount of acreage.

After a survey warrant was issued a licensed surveyor, such as George Washington, and the prospective landowner would travel to the location of the tract where the surveyor, in conjunction with the landowner, would measure and mark out the set amount of acreage.

It is important to note that the surveyor and the prospective landowner may have negotiated the exact boundaries of the set amount of acreage. If, for example, the prospective landowner was looking for land that could be used for farming, the two parties (the surveyor and prospective landowner) may have jointly decided to situate the set amount of acreage on level dry land as opposed to land with poor drainage. The surveyor would then prepare a “plat” or large scale map of the land as well as a textual description. The document was, essentially, a deed to the land. A 1750 plat and description for John Lindsey, completely in the hand of George Washington, may be seen below.

Washington, George. Plat of survey for John Lindsey of 223 acres in Frederick County, Va. 1750. Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. G3883 .F8B5 1750 .W3 Vault
Washington, George. Plat of survey for John Lindsey of 223 acres in Frederick County, Va. 1750. Manuscript map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. G3883 .F8B5 1750 .W3 Vault

18th century surveying in the colonies was, compared to surveying methods in Europe at the same time, relatively crude. While European surveying sometimes involved the use of transits, theodolites, and even star charts, colonial surveying used the traditional “metes and bounds” method. In other words, the surveyor and prospective landowner would pick out a starting point and, by using a traditional 66 foot long Gunters Chain (see image below)  demarcate the boundaries of the property.

A 66 foot long Gunters Chain used in 18th century metes and bounds surveying in the colonies. This item has not been digitized. Gunter, Edmund. [Gunters Chain.], Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. G9900 18-- Vault.
A 66 foot long Gunters Chain used for 18th century metes and bounds surveying in the colonies. This item has not been digitized. Gunter, Edmund. [Gunters Chain], Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. G9900 18– Vault.
In addition to the Northern Neck, the vast majority of private land lying east of the Ohio River was surveyed using the traditional metes and bounds method. It was not until the new United States adopted the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), as outlined by the Land Ordnance of 1785, that public lands were surveyed using methods more sophisticated than the metes and bounds system.

The next post in this series will explore the Public Land Survey System in greater detail.

Comments (5)

  1. very nice description

  2. Hello, Great article

  3. Great history! I must that our ancestor have a very hard job in measuring a land and specially to draw it by detail. I’m amazed of this kind of work because it need focus and dedication to complete.

  4. Thank you for this interesting history.

    Do you know when the surveyors first began to correct for magnetic declination?

    Also, was there ever any attempt to correct distances for the ups and downs of steep hills? Measuring distances over hills is fine for a local property description but when overlying such a plat on a flat map, the distances will be exaggerated.

    Thank you,

    Don Kaiser

  5. Trying to make sense out of 18th century plats in SC. I can handle N 30 W but one plat in 1764 shows four sides, labeled E100. and S31:62 and W13? – fourth side is the Pee Dee River. No compass rose or other clues.
    Another plat shows N63:11 and E63:11 and S63:11 and W63:11 There is no compass rose or N direction.
    Do you have any clues? Also, when looking at plat boundaries, do you look “left to right” clockwise along the line (e.g., North then West) or the other way?

Add a Comment

This blog is governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content on the Library site. Read our Comment and Posting Policy.


Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk.